Heroes: Endings and Beginnings

[General Havoc]

Driven to the operational area in an unmarked trailer, as usual, Alpha had received no orders save for those from the briefing. While it was apparent that he could not enter the building without causing enormous property damage, that didn't mean he had to stay inside the trailer.

Stepping out of the unmarked canister, Alpha stood next to the bizarre metal sculpture in front of the main doors, looking like nothing more than a piece of corporate art himself, save for the slow tracking back and forth of his armored torso. His appearance had caused a commotion, certainly, though not a panic, as was dressed in Ultima colors, and prominently adorned with blue and red lights, not to mention more or less immobile. Within ten minutes, a small crowd had gathered to gawk, and indeed some of the more adventurous tourists were engaged in taking snapshots of themselves posing in front of the enormous war mech.

None of this bothered Alpha, whose only motion was to slowly pan his upper "torso" back and forth like a security camera. Strictly-speaking, this was un-necessary, for Alpha's scanners could cover 360 degrees in any event, but behavioral research at Omnicorp had indicated that a self-propelled omnimech was less likely to cause a panic should it have to move suddenly if the humans nearby had become accustomed, psychologically, to seeing it move prior to that point.

This served well when all of a sudden, Alpha began to walk across the plaza towards a car parked in front of the building. Trailing a gaggle of tourists and civilians at respectful distance, the enormous war machine walked up to the car, a red Mazerati, gleaming in the afternoon sun, and parked, rather prominently, in the direct center of the block, the curb next to its wheels painted blue for handicapped parking only.

With infinite car, the robot stepped into the street and walked a complete circle around the car, photographing its license plate and its position in relation to the curb. Only then did the robot carefully step back up onto the sidewalk. From the center of its body came the soft sound of whirring machinery, and a small slip of paper slid partly out of one weapon arm. The robot turned its massive weapon arm towards the car, paper still dangling from it, then stopped.

Impasse.

For several moments, the robot stood motionless, attempting to determine how it could affix the ticket to the car's windshield without hands. Its considerations were interrupted by the voice of one of the onlookers.

"Whoa! Cool!"

The robot's cameras panned back even as its body slowly panned around. The speaker in question was a child, a boy of maybe ten, straddling a bicycle and staring up at the robot in company with several other children of the same age. Alpha hesitated only a second before commanding his computer to load his juvenile language translation protocols, algorithms worked out by Omnicorp for dealing with situations like these.

'Greetings, citizen,' said Alpha's AI. 'Would you be willing to render assistance to this unit?' His translator processed the linguistic data and rendered the words down to the appropriate level, the enormous mech's voice lowering a dozen decibels and slowing slightly.

"Hello," said Alpha's speaker. "Can you help me?"

"Who are you?" asked the boy.

'My designation is XC-001 Alpha, Sentinel-class fully-automated law enforcement omnimech, presently under assignment to the Bureau of Metahuman Affairs.'

"My name is XC-001 Alpha," said Alpha with only a slight pause for translation. "I am a police robot working for Ultima."

"Cool..." said the child, as did several of his friends. "Are those real?" asked one of them, gesturing to the enormous autocannons.

'These weapons are fully operational, but their use is restricted by priority code protocol. They cannot be employed save in the event of Delta-level threat conditions. Would you be willing to assist this unit?'.

"They are real weapons," said Alpha, "but I don't use them except against very dangerous people. Can you help me?"

"Sure," said the boy, "what do you need?"

'Please remove the citation from this unit's print dispenser, and place it gently beneath the windshield wiper blade, taking care not to damage the working components of the automobile. For liability reasons, you are to be considered deputized by the Bureau of Metahuman Affairs for the purposes of this citation delivery.'

"I need you to take the ticket out of my printer and put it under the windshield wiper of the car. Be very careful..." At this point, Alpha's translators hung, unable to figure out a simple way of explaining the liability shield, which the boy clearly took to be the end of the request.

"Awesome," said the boy, and he did precisely as he had been told, sliding the ticket under the windshield wiper without scratching the windshield or paint. Yet before he could turn back to the enormous robot, a shout rang out from across the plaza.

"HEY!" screamed the voice of a man, and both boy and robot turned to see a man, late thirties perhaps, racing across the plaza towards them, face red, arms waving above his head. Automatically, Alpha stepped towards the man, placing his enormous form between the obviously angry man and the children.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" yelled the man. "Get the fuck away from my car!"

Alpha's linguistic analyzer made the inevitable leap of comprehension.

"Citizen," said Alpha, his translation protocols now disabled, and his voice operating in full authoritarian tenor. "Your vehicle is parked in a handicap-reserved parking zone. This unit is authorized to issue a citation for this infraction, and has done so."

"What?!" shouted the man at Alpha. "You're ticketing me for parking in a fucking cripple zone! I work at this fucking company! This is my motherfucking building! Do you have any idea who I am, you overgrown can opener?!"

"It is not required that you present identification, citizen," said Alpha, carrying on as though nothing were amiss. "However, this is a public sidewalk, and there is no special dispensation granted to employees or proprietors of this building to ignore duly-posted parking regulations. This unit is therefore issuing a citation in the amount of two hundred and fifty dollars for - "

"TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY BUCKS?!" screamed the man, so loud that Alpha had his secondary processors run an evaluation of the chances that he was about to self-induce a coronary attack. "For parking in front of my own building?! WHO THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE YOU PIECE OF - "

"This unit's designation is XC-001 Alpha," said Alpha, elevating his speaker's decibel level to compensate for the man's elevated tone of voice. "Authorized Federal Agent with the Bureau of Metahuman Affairs. This unit is authorized to issue citations for criminal violations of the legal statutes of local jurisdictions. All relevant case data have been uploaded to the Chicago Metropolitan Police Department. You have the right to appeal this citation in person during normal business hours at the Chicago Hall of Justice by filing - "

The agitated man stepped back, and with every appearance of prior intent, spat on Alpha's print dispenser. "You motherfucker," he said, reaching over and pulling the ticket out from under his windshield. "I will have your metal ass for this! I'll have them using you for street sweeping!" He seized the ticket with both hands and violently tore it to shreds, hurling the bits of shredded paper at the enormous war mech. "You've just gotten yourself a free ticket to the repo depot, motherfucker!"

Alpha ignored both spit and insults, but his print dispenser dutifully began producing another ticket. "Citizen," said Alpha, his voice as even as ever, "you are in violation of Chicago city ordinance D-1827b, intentional littering. This unit is authorized to issue a citation in the amount of $125.00 payable to the Chicago Municipal Transit Authority. You have the right to appeal this citation in person during normal - "

"Fuck yourself!" shouted the man angrily, and he turned his back on Alpha, moving around to the front of his car. "Get the fuck out of my way, crotchspawn," he shouted at the boy who had assisted Alpha, before shoving him preemptively out of the way.

He didn't take another step.

There was a hollow "thunk", and a loud splat, and suddenly one of the tubes on Alpha's weapon arms fired a ball of adhesive polymer the size of a watermelon. One fiftieth of a second later, the paste ball struck the angry man in mid-stride, and exploded, blowing the man back into his car, where he was instantly cemented to the hood of the car with polymer bonds stronger than steel. The boy jumped and backed away, the onlooking crowd gasped in surprise, and the man was too shocked to speak, but Alpha merely pronounced his judgment in his usual tone.

"Citizen," he said, "you are under arrest on the charge of Assault, Reckless Endangerment of a Minor, and Resisting Arrest. This unit will contact metropolitan police units to retrieve you for processing and preliminary incarceration. You have the right to remain silent or to refuse to answer questions..."

[LadyTevar]

Fulks' eyes darted over to the agents as Weaver started talking. They got wider when he told her where they were from. Her face turned an unhealthy shade of white. She was visibly afraid, and further proved this by immediately backing up against the airlock, which had already closed behind her. Her hands frantically smacked the wall around her, trying to hit the button to cycle it again.
"N-no, no no no you guys can't be here you're not suppose to be here, oh my god wh-oh, oh god."

The words came out a mile a minute up until the end where she hunched over and vomited onto the floor. A second later she began to slump over like she was going to pass out.

Jerri stepped forward, as Mike jumped back. She avoided the puddle of vomitus, kneeling down to gently rub Dr. Fulk's shoulders. "Easy... easy... Breathe in, breathe out."

Well, that answers the question of her guilt. Wonder who put the Fear of Ultima into her?
"Agent Gordon? some water please?" Jerri said, unwilling to answer where present company could overhear. "Mr Weaver, is there a place where Dr Fulks can lie down for a moment?"

Yeah, I know, can't talk right now. Pity Legion doesn't have the telepathics anymore, that would be useful, Heidi griped. Just don't let her puke on you, ok?
Jerri looked up to Legion and rolled her eyes meaningfully. Hopefully the two men would do more than stand there and stare.

[Dark Silver]

Legion watched, carefully, Dr Fulks reaction, and while Jerri did expected and maternal thing, Legion looked to Weaver, "Sir, I think we should get her someplace she can lay down, quickly. Gordan, get a glass of water."

Legion didn't go near Fulks, Jerri could do what needed to be done easily enough by herself.

Turning his attention to Weaver, Legion spoke soto-toned, so only the man could hear him, "I'm sorry, but I have to bring Dr Fulks in for questioning. Especially after this reaction just to seeing us...she's definitely connected with our case. She's not under arrest, we just need to question her. You can accompany her if you'd like sir...but to let you know, this is happening."

[B4UTRUST]

Weaver was crouched down next to Fulks, trying to figure out what was wrong when Legion suggested moving her. He looked a bit upset and concerned for Fulks. When he stood up though, the look was replaced with strong certainty without a hint of hesitation.
"Right, there's a break room down the hall with a couch we can use. Follow me."

Weaver moved down the hall at a decent jog and reached the door first. He glanced back to make sure the others were following with Fulks behind. Opening the door he ducked into the room and looked around. Spotting a few people milling about he went into action.
"Janice, up off the couch. Everyone else, move back. Chuck, grab the first aid kit out of the cabinet and then page Rossario down in the treatment center and tell her to get up here. James, grab me a water bottle from the fridge and a damp towel."

The break room contained a full-sized couch as well as several comfortable looking chairs circling a center coffee table. A small TV in the corner was turned to a news channel, but muted. A full-sized refrigerator was pushed against the wall and several racks of miscellaneous snacks sat on the counter next to a metal money box. Weaver started pushing the coffee table away from the couch and towards the chairs to give the agents more room to walk as they brought in Fulks.

[LadyTevar]

Jerri was half-carrying Dr Fulks, helping her into the breakroom and slowly lowering the swooning woman down onto the couch.

You should have had Gordon pick her up and carry her Heidi muttered, but didn't add more. Taking a potion so Heidi could carry her would have been a mistake, driving the nervous doctor further into her swoon.

Jerri, for her part, started with basic first aid tricks to help a person who'd swooned, guiding Dr. Fulks to lie down with her feet elevated on the couch's arms, accepting the damp towel from James and laying it over the doctor's forehead. "Do you have a stra...." she trailed off as James produced one for the water bottle, and Jerri gave the man a thankful smile.

Well well... the Girl Next Door look must turn him on....
If Jerri had been alone with Ultima agents, she'd have told Heidi off. "Sip slowly, Dr. Fulks. Small sips."

[B4UTRUST]

Dr Fulks started coming around after a few moments and tried to sit up. Out in the hallway there was a commotion and soon a woman appeared in the doorway. She was a little under average height and thin, clad in light blue medical scrubs and a doctor's overcoat. A small pair of glasses perched on her nose , magnifying her cold blue eyes slightly. Her dirty blond hair was pulled up into a tight bun and her demeanor was completely no nonsense. She shouldered past some of the people standing near the doorway, blocking her path.
"Move it! Out of my way! Real doctor coming through, now damnit move!"

She forced her way into the break room, the look on her face and the force of will radiating off of her was enough to convince most people not to stand in her way. She was like a force of nature wrapped up in a doctor's outfit and had probably never heard of the concept of bedside manner. As she got next to the couch she looked down at Fulks then at Weaver.
"What happened?"
"She started panicking when we started talking to her outside the lab, she vomited then passed out."
"Exposure to chemicals or virals?"
"She was in a clean room in a hazmat suit. She was fine up until we started talking."
"Fine, now move. Let me have a look at her."

Dr. Rossario pressed her fingers against the side of Fulks' neck and looked at her watch, counting silently.
"Heart rate is steady though slightly elevated."

She grabbed a penlight out of her pocket and clicked it on, shining the bright LED light into Fulks' eyes, watching the pupils contract and dilate. She clicked it off and slid it back into her pocket before holding up her fingers.
"Alright, follow my fingers with your eyes, no moving your head."

She slowly moved her fingers left and right, up and down, watching the reaction.
"Alright, name?"
"Huh? Oh, Helen. Helen Fulks."
"Okay, Helen. Where are you?"
"I'm at work, at Biongyn."
"Good. Good. Now what happened?"
"I-I came out of the clean lab where I was working. Mr. Weaver had called him out to come talk to someone. I processed through the airlock and decon and came out. Mr. Weaver was introducing me to who it was that wanted to talk to me. It was some people from Ultima. As soon as he told me that my heart started racing and I felt sick. I remember throwing up and then them setting me on this couch..."
"Okay. Sounds like you had a panic attack. Have you had any of these before?"
"N-no. Never!"
"Alright, so short term situation induced. What caused you to panic?"

Fulks' face tensed up. She closed her eyes, thinking hard and it was obvious she was trying to stay calm and in control, but whatever it was going on inside her head was making her very emotional and upset.
"Alright, breathe, Helen. Slow, deep breaths. It's alright, I just need to know what made you panic."
"I-they, I..," she tried to start as tears began to roll down her cheeks.

"It's my family," she began again. "They, they took them. Said I had to give them our research, or they'd kill them.."
"Wait, who is them? Who are they and why did they want our research," interjected Weaver, still looking concerned and now doubly so.

Fulks shook her head wildly, crying harder now, body shaking.
"I-I don't know! They took Jennifer! Said if I didn't cooperate they'd kill her, kill Abraham! They gave me money for it and said if I told anyone they'd kill them too! And when those agents showed up, I-I, all I could think was that they were going to kill my baby. They said they were watching me and that they would know and they would kill them both if anyone was told and then they showed up and now my baby is gone oh god please, please tell me she's not dead, she's still alive isn't she? Oh god please, my baby, please!"

She was working herself up quickly into another panic attack it appeared as the whole ordeal came flooding out of her. She was nearly hysterical with worry and grief.

[LadyTevar]

oh fuck...
Heidi summed up Jerri's thoughts exactly. Kidnapping and threats to get the research from Dr. Fulks. No wonder the poor woman had panicked at the sight of Ultima agents.
"This is a real problem," Jerri said softly.
No shit, sherlock. Heidi replied. We know the who and the why, we need the when, where, what, and how. Let Legion tell Ultima about the kidnapping, you and I get the info.

Jerri was silent for a long moment, before looking up to Legion and Mr. Weaver. "If they're watching her, it's from inside the building. We need a lockdown, we need NeXT and Alpha to see if any unauthorized messages went out since our arrival. We need to keep Them from knowing We're here, if possible. We need to find Abraham Fulks and put him under protection."
I don't have high hopes for finding them alive.

Jerri didn't want to think about it. Instead, Jerri decided to give out a little of the why and who. "Ultima agents raided a juicing lab," she said, mentioning no names. "The formula being used was based on Dr. Fulks' work."
She took Dr. Fulks' hand in hers, looking down at her gently. "Dr. ... Helen... we need to know when they first contacted you. We need to know how long they've had Jennifer."

[B4UTRUST]

Everything was happening to fast. Weaver felt he was loosing control of the situation. He stood there blankly for a second before responding.
"Well, I uh, could initiate outbreak protocols and that would quarantine the building, but we'd be stuck here until we were cleared. Beyond that I can shut down this floor but that's about it. I'll call security and ask them who's left recently."

Weaver moved over to the other side of the room and grabbed the phone to call security.

Fulks looked at Gemini and was still shaky, frightened.
"Th-they took my family a little over two weeks ago. And that was when they contacted me. Told me they had m-my family and that they w-w-wanted the research I was working on."

Weaver came back over and cleared his throat politely.
"Well, I think we can safely say that if someone is watching the building, they know Ultima is here. Your robot is outside drawing a rather large crowd and ticketing one of our people for parking in a handicapped spot. I would say that prohibits the possibility of your keeping your presence hush-hush. Still want me to try to quarantine the building?"

[SirNitram]

"I am in process of an electronic quarantine." The calm monotone of NeXT spoke into the room. "I am also attempting tracing of all signals sent out prior. Request any facial ID on children in question, for comparison to facial recignition programs."

[Dark Silver]

This proceeded before Legion could fully process the situation and come out to a suitable conclusion and plan of action. Gemini proceeded on instinct though, which could only cause more problems.

"Why don't need a physical quarantine of the building," he said, "We need a electronics one...which we have in NEXT. Monitor and secure all electronic traffic coming or going from this place, voice, data or visual. And someone round up Alpha, he shouldn't have left his mobile until he was called for."

HE looked to Dr Fulks, "Ma'am, I understand this is difficult for you, and I understand your concerned about your family...but we need to focus. We aren't going to let your family die, if we can help it. Now earlier you said you had an appointment...was it to meet with them?"

[B4UTRUST]

Fulks sniffled and one of the people milling around the break room passed her a napkin. She used it to wipe away her tears, smearing her makeup some, then blew her nose.

Through effort of sheer will and determination she began to calm herself down. She took several deep breaths before looking to Legion.
"Y-yes. The appointment was the trade. They give me an envelope with money and I give them the newest data. God, I'm so sorry, Mr. Weaver. I know how much this project means to you and oh god this is a nightmare..."
"It's alright, Helen. Really. I understand. We'll work this out and when this is all over and your family is safe we can discuss it then if you want. I understand..."

She nodded, unsure, probably not really believing it. She had given away priceless research data from her company that would have had world-changing implications. Weaver may be sincere and really care, but right that moment she couldn't be sure. So she addressed the problem she could handle. Or try to help handle, at least...
"The tradeoff is always in a public place. And they always bring one of them with them. Either my daughter or Abraham. A couple times it was both of them, but usually just one. To show me they're still alive and being taken care of, they said."

[Dark Silver]

Legion nodded, "So we know, for now, that they are both alive.."

Legion looked to Weaver for a moment, then back to Fulks, "We need you to keep the appointment. Most importantly, for now...we need you to keep it. If we're going to hope to save your family, we have to proceed calmly and slowly."

Legion licked his lips ever so slightly, before standing up, turned, walking a few steps away opened his cell, and made a call to Hawk. He explained the situation as it stood, what they learned, and the possible problems, and what he had for a plan.

So far anyway. There was not much of one to go on, beyond hoping that this time, they brought both hostages, and they could take the bad guys down, before the civilians were hurt.

[B4UTRUST]

Next's scan of the traffic in and out of the building offered up very little of any real value. A few spam emails coming in, mostly nabbed by spam filters on the email server. Three personal phone calls, a dozen business related calls. Emails both personal and private. Playing back security tapes from the last hour showed very few people entering or exiting the building, and the highlight seems to be Alpha's show in the parking lot. Nothing that one would suspect as a radio communication informing someone of Ultima's arrival.

Hawk tentatively gave the okay to Legion and told him to get as much as he could before the finalized the op. In the meantime he was going to work on pulling in an expert on rescue operations to assist. He informed Legion he would contact him as soon as it was finalized.

[Dark Silver]

Legion nodded, spoke his understanding of Hawk's orders, and closed the secure cell.

With that, he stepped back to Dr Fulks and Gemini, and spoke in soft tones, "Dr Fulks, I understnad you are under enormous stress - and we will do everything we can to help you and your family..."

He crouched down slightly, "I need you to keep your appointment, act like nothing is different...just do everything as you normally do. Don't act as if anything is wrong or suspicious....and hopefully we'll be able to save your husband and daughter."

[B4UTRUST]

She sniffled once more and wiped away her eyes, nodding slowly
"I-I'll try. I'm scared. I just want my family safe. If something were to happen to them because of me... I couldn't live with myself."

She looked at her watch, taking a couple of deep breaths, trying to calm herself.
"I suppose we should leave soon then. They'll be calling me with the location. We'll only have thirty minutes to get to the place after they call."

[Dark Silver]

Legion nodded, looking to Gemini and Gordan, "Let's head back to the car. Dr. Fulks, we'll have someone watching you, just proceed as you normally do with these situations."

With that, Legion began walking towards the elevator, keeping his voice low, and speaking into the team communicators, "NeXT, we'll need Satellite surveillance on Dr Fulk's person and car, along with you listening in on every phone call she has until we know where she needs to meet them. Alpha, return to your transport, priorities have changed. We are going into S&R mode."

As the elevator door opened, Legion stepped inside, waited on his fellow agents, and pressed the button for the ground floor.

[SirNitram]

"Uploading." NeXT dropped off one of his subroutines into the NSA spook network. Thank you, back room at AT&T. High, high above the scene, one of the satellites sweeping the region started receiving new orders, making it's minor adjustments to it's orbit. "Satellite positioned and recording. Voice and data lines listed to Doctor tapped into." He spoke into his team's ears. "Scanning remaining voice and data lines to make audio sample." A pause. "As, you know, I've seen this one. The bad guy uses a prepaid cell bought with cash, sent to the victim."

[Dark Silver]

"Yeah, I think we've all seen this one to...and we probably know how it ends. I'm not so much worried about finding out who has them - as to finding out where they are going to meet, and who might be with them. Can you put a track and get us a approx-source of origin on the call? We don't need it down to the exact Lat-Long, just a general tower vicinity."

Legion shifted slightly, making sure everyone of the team could hear him, "The more information we can get, the better right now, and the closer we can get to performing a rescue. Our first priority is saving the husband and child - we make no moves until we're certain they won't be caught in the crossfire or exposed to minimal risk. If they only have one....we should focus on taking them down, but with minimal lethality. If we can take them alive, but unconcious, I can use my ability to pull any info we can out of their heads..."

Legion thought for a moment, then spoke again, "NeXT, is there anyway for you to blanket-jam any ComSys in the a area aside from Ultima frequencies?" He hoped he wouldn't need to explain the reasoning behind the question.

[B4UTRUST]

A short time later in downtown Chicago

NeXT's tracing of the calls in and out of Fulks' phone had paid off. A short while after the agents had become to pack up from Biongyn, Helen left the building and took off in her car heading towards downtown. A few minutes after she had left her phone rang. The intercepted message gave the location of the meeting. Gino's East of Chicago down on north Wells St. An old dive pizza parlor that was still popular.

The surrounding area of the parlor was densely packed with restaurants, shops and various hotels for blocks in any direction and you couldn't throw a rock without hitting a dozen people it seemed. A good place, it would appear, to disappear in plain sight and conduct the exchange without people really paying attention.

NeXT's analysis of the phone call had revealed very little of real use. The phone call made to Dr. Fulks' had come from a 1-800 number utilized by a phone company for its prepaid calling cards. The call traced back to its origination point at a pay phone in front of a grocery store several miles away from Gino's. Scanning of security systems in the area showed very little of real use. Cameras in the grocery store itself showed the checkout lines and the parking lot, but didn't show the phone. A security camera in the gas station across the street was unable to give a high enough resolution picture or zoom in enough to give real detail. It showed a figure that appeared to be Caucasian wearing jeans, a dark colored jacket and a blueish baseball cap pulled down tight over his head.

Fulks disappeared inside the restaurant and looked around before disappearing further into the parlor. She took a seat near the back of the parlor with two men and another woman. Her body language suggested she was very tense. One of the men she was with was identifiable as her husband, though the daughter was nowhere to be seen. Searches through NCIC and other criminal databases couldn't pull a facial match for the other two individuals however.

The pair had already been in the restaurant when the agents arrived so they couldn't be immediately sure which car was the kidnappers.

[Dark Silver]

Legion, being one of the few members of the team who could pass for just about anyone due to his..unique background and genetically programmed looks, was in the pizza shop enjoying a slice and a beer long before Fulks had arrived.

Years of deep cover had taught him how to act like he belonged where ever he was, and he used it well for this - he watched Fulks without being apparent. His comm was sub-dermal, monitored by NeXT to minimize accidental pick up by outsiders.

If he was right, Gordan and Gemini were waiting in the little bistro across the street, Alpha was in a mobile carrier a block down in a side alley with order to stay out of sight until needed, and NeXT was....well...he was everywhere right now.

The new guy, though....Pulse...Pulse could be anywhere. Such as it was with teleporters.

Fulks had arrived, and went meet the kidnappers. He watched, waited, the husband was here, but not the daughter. Which meant his perfect scenario of getting both at once wasn't going to happen.

Speaking just enough for the sub-dermal to pick up, barely moving his lips so not to look out of place, Legion contacted NeXT, "Booth 3...back corner...do those men have any communications device on them? Cell, vo-comms, etc?"

[SirNitram]

"Prepaid cellphones.. The Doc's is on as well.. It's nice being against people who don't know much." The frequency for these was easy to listen in on, and trace. NeXT waited and listened, ready to spring the trap on anyone giving orders.

[Dark Silver]

"Stay frosty for now NeXT, any calls, when I give the signal, I want the send/transmit circuits in those phones fried. Gemini, how you and Gordon doing?"

Legion wasn't sure which of the "twins" was with Gordon right now...but he expected things to take a turn, Heidi would indeed be the better field asset.

[rhoenix]

The laughter in the cabin of the chopper subsided sharply as SSA Monty walked back into the cabin, his touch-tablet playing soft light on his face in the darkened cabin. "Sunter! Front and center!"

Jason Sunter wearily stood, already forcing his body to give him a fifth wind. That look was on SSA Monty's face, so there would be a "needed to be done yesterday" sort of problem.

Without looking up to confirm Jason Sunter had stood and saluted crisply, SSA Monty barked out orders. "Special Agent Pulse, AKA Jason Sunter, you are hereby reassigned to Ultima task force Omega, to assist with a rescue mission already in progress. You will report to your new superior officer - Agent Hawk - immediately to report for duty, to then immediately join the effort. Do you understand your orders?"

"Yes sir," said Pulse with a straight face, though internally his heart sank. No time to relax first, and getting thrown right into Omega team to boot. At least his now-former compatriots weren't giving him a bad time about it. Much.

"We are currently near Ultima headquarters, you are to immediately disembark and hustle doubletime to meet Agent Hawk. Understood?"

"Yes sir!", Sunter saluted once more, taking his place by the side of the chopper as the door opened, courtesy of the pilot. He immediately took stock of the ground below, and focused on the best landing spot.

"Dismissed, Agent Sunter. It was an honor serving with you."

With a nod of respect in return to one of the best CO's he'd ever met, Agent Sunter's world suddenly went whitish-blue for a split second, snapping back to reality to match what his senses told him - he was now crouched on the ground in front of the doors of the Ultima building, and was beginning to attract some odd looks. Paying them no heed, Agent Sunder smartly rose to his feet, and marched inside.

Expecting to explain every step of the way, he retrieved his Pararescue ID from one of the side pockets of his fatigues, and hung it around his neck. As he walked in, the secretary looked at him, looked down at her desk, looked back up, and smartly stood. "Special Agent Sunter, AKA Pulse?"

Somewhat surprised, given what he'd heard about Ultima, he stopped smartly and snapped a salute. "Yes ma'am. Where might I find Special Agent Hawk?"

Nodding once, the lady behind the desk replied just as crisply. "Fifth floor straight down the hall. It'll be to your left."

Saluting in return with a smile, Agent Sunter said "Thanks, ma'am" before marching to the elevators. A short time later, he was on the fifth floor, and to his relief, Agent Hawk's office was not difficult to find. The door was open, so Agent Sunter stopped in the doorway, saluting smartly. "Special Agent Sunter, reporting for duty."

The man behind the desk looked up, a look of surprise flitting across his face for just a moment. "I see your former CO wasn't joking when he said I'd see you in five minutes exactly," he said with a slight smile, which disappeared as he stood with a folder of paperwork, handing it to Special Agent Sunter.

Special Agent Hawk got immediately to business - something that privately pleased Agent Sunter, especially given how tired he felt. "My apologies for pulling you up here so soon after your last op, but we have a time critical situation in progress that needs a fairly unique skillset and at the moment you're our closest asset that fits the bill," he said crisply, turning on a projector and showing the surrounding area on a high-quality map as he spoke.

"We have a woman being blackmailed by an unknown group and they're using her family as hostages and incentives. Husband and daughter. There's a meeting planned within the next hour and we know at least one of the hostages is going to be there. The rest of the team can handle taking care of the kidnappers but we need someone able to retrieve the hostage quickly if it goes south. You can do that and treat the wounds if any to keep the hostage alive until they can be brought back. That's what you need to know from my end this second. You'll get a full briefing of events once the op is completed and of course anything your team lead feels necessary to tell you. You're reporting to Agent Legion. Here's the location of the team currently. No helo transport since we don't want visible assets in the field to alert the kidnappers. So grab something from motorpool and we'll try to get the traffic running quick in that direction for you. Dismissed," he said, throwing a badge to Agent Sunter.

Catching his new Ultima badge and nodding once with another salute, Agent Sunter's mind dropped into pure business. "Understood. Thank you, sir."

With that, it was only a short trip to the motorpool. Deciding that time and discretion were both necessary factors, he grabbed the keys for a Mercedes off the wall, signed for them with a nod at the clerk giving him a somewhat peculiar look, he followed the map directly to the bistro he was told his new teammates would be after quickly changing into a nondescript outfit of blue jeans and a long-sleeved plain black t-shirt - fatigues would be too obvious.

Not seeing anyone he recognized from the pictures immediately, he parked his borrowed car in a good parking space (no need to abuse authority if you don't have to, Agent Sunter thought), and walked into the bistro, mentally trying to match faces with the photos he was given of his new teammates. Seeing a woman looking vaguely uncomfortable, his mind instantly matched her face with the...two he'd seen for this particular teammate, known as Agent Gemini.

Walking purposefully to the table, he nodded once to the Agent, though he didn't smile just yet. He addressed her in a quiet voice, that wouldn't carry well past this table, but would be heard by the female Agent he was speaking to. "Pardon me ma'am, I'm looking for those of Ultima or Omega."

(EDIT: made a bunch of minor edits for readability & consistency)

[LadyTevar]

Gemini and Gordon had been informed that a new member would be joining them, and given a rough description. However, they had not been given an exact ETA. So far, their story was two casual lovers out for a bite to eat.

"Pardon me ma'am, I'm looking for those of Ultima or Omega."

Looks like our new member has arrived...

The well-built (and endowed) young woman with the red-blond curls looked up at Pulse in surprise, then all but leapt to her feet. "You Made It!" she exclaimed, wrapping Pulse in a surprise hug as if greeting a long-lost friend. But before he could really enjoy the full-body hug, Heidi was already whispering low and sexily in his ear.
"Sit down and act like you've known me for years, because if you blow this op I will crush your ribcage like balsawood."

That's ... not the best way to great him, Heidi... Jerri said, trying to choke back a laugh. One of Heidi's full-body hugs could make a man light-headed, even without the hard squeeze of the ribs. Jerri had to admit that when Heidi hit puberty, she had developed a great power over weaker male minds. 38C tends to do that.

The smile on Heidi's face was wide and teasing as she pulled out of the hug -- which had patted Pulse down in interesting places. "Please, sit down.. this is Mike, my current boytoy," Heidi went on, expanding the cover-story to cover Pulse's arrival perfectly. "I was just telling him that you should be here soon..." her eyes turned to Gordon in a 'you better back me up' stare. "Didn't I Mike?"

[SirNitram]

"If this blows op security, I have this all on record." The voice of NeXT spoke into ears. "Pulse.. If that's who you are.. Sit down, act like she says, and sit tight. This is an op in progress, we don't need stupid breaches."

Some people! In the meantime, NeXT tried to see if any of his feeds in the room gave him a good view of Gemini.